


Merci Pour le Venin

by eeuuucalyptus



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Band Fic, Fluff, High School, KIND OF I GUESS, M/M, my chemical romance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1979280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeuuucalyptus/pseuds/eeuuucalyptus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school AU. Gavin is curious about Michael's musical tastes and is introduced to the wonderful world of My Chemical Romance. Fluff/cute friendship ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merci Pour le Venin

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is really heavily based on my experiences in high school (waiting for the bus, hanging out with friends on the bus, geeking out over MCR), which I think makes it more authentic. I'll try not to make it a strictly MCR fic, but if you're a fan there will be plenty of references. :* Enjoy!

“Michael… Michael!”

Gavin had been trying to get his friend’s attention for what felt like the last five minutes. Michael’s chunky headphones blocked out all sound from the outside world, instead filling his ears with loud drumming and heavy guitar riffs.

Michael finally tugged his headphones off one ear so he could hear.

“What is it, dude?”

Gavin plopped himself down in front of Michael’s locker.

“First period starts in five minutes. Aren’t you gonna head to chemistry?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “God Gavin, you’re such a goody-two shoes prick.”

Gavin smiled faintly. He knew Michael well enough to understand his harsh sense of humor. Any onlooker would view such an exchange as abusive, but Gavin understood Michael as a rough around the edges kind of guy. Besides, they balanced each other out in this way. Gavin would calm the redhead down when he was getting too heated, be it in a classroom argument or in a less-than-pleasant hallway exchange. Likewise, Michael had conditioned Gavin to be less sensitive, which definitely came in handy when the upperclassmen made fun of his accent. Balance.

“What are you listening to, anyway? They sound angry.”

Michael wordlessly showed Gavin his iPod screen.

“My Chemical Romance…” Gavin read. “Hey, isn’t that the band on your hoodie?”

Michael looked up in mock disgust. “I’ve worn that hoodie for weeks, and you just now made the connection?”

“Yeah.” Gavin smiled.

“You really are an idiot,” Michael quipped with a grin as he took his headphones off his head.

“We should really get to class,” said Gavin. “There’s nothing worse than being late to first period on a Monday morning.”

Michael shoved his headphones into his backpack. He sighed heavily.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Gavin punched his shoulder gently as he walked away.

“Of course I am. I’ll see you later, man.”

“Yeah, later,” Michael muttered.

Gavin knew plenty of people who weren’t morning people. In fact, the majority of the human population as he knew it consisted of very anti-morning people. But Michael Jones, in his constant state of being anywhere from slightly pissed off to raging nonstop, was the least morning person Gavin had ever met. Surprisingly, coffee didn’t help, but only served to make things worse. If only school started at noon…

The day passed unbelievably slowly. Gavin didn’t have too many friends in his classes, so there was no one to distract him from boredom when Mr. Brown began another one of his Civil War lectures, accompanied with lack of eye contact and endless pacing across the room. He was in advanced classes while Michael’s classes were mostly college preparatory. Michael was a really smart guy, so Gavin didn’t understand why he wasn’t taking advanced classes as well. He chalked it up to CP classes being easier, so it wasn’t as challenging to get straight A’s, as Michael did. Still, Gavin saw Michael as one of the smartest people he’d ever met.

Of course, he’d never tell Michael any of this. He sometimes felt like their friendship was mostly one-sided. Not that he minded; any companion was better than none. Besides, he found Michael’s anger rather endearing. Sure, he was genuinely mad a lot of the time, but most of it was mostly for dramatic flair.

Finally the day was over. He hadn’t seen Michael during lunch, since they had different lunch schedules on Mondays.

They met by Michael’s locker, as was the after-school tradition.

“How was your day?” Gavin asked cheerfully.

Michael shrugged as he slammed his locker shut. “It kinda sucked, but as far as Mondays go, it could’ve been worse.”

“Yeah, my day was more or less the same. I almost fell asleep in two classes.”

“That happens to me on Fridays. I didn’t fall asleep today, but I sure as shit didn’t pay attention to anything.”

Gavin laughed as they walked towards the east hallway to wait for the bus. Gavin regularly rode the bus to school, whereas Michael generally only rode it home, if at all.

On the bus they sat in their decided seats, which were three rows from the front, sitting on opposite sides. Michael sat slumped against the cold metal wall while Gavin played Pokemon Diamond on his DS. He could hear the faint bass guitar and aggressive drumming coming from Michael’s headphones.

He kicked Michael’s foot to get his attention. Michael lifted one headphone.

“What?”

“Are you listening to My Chemical Romance again?”

“Yeah, why?”

Gavin slid over across the aisle (while the bus driver wasn’t looking, of course – he had a policy of staying in your seat while the bus was in motion) to get a look at Michael’s iPod.

“Can I see?”

Michael looked at Gavin skeptically out of the corner of his eye.

“I thought you said they sounded angry.”

“I mean, they do, but I’m curious. If they’re your favorite band, then I’m sure they’re worth checking out.”

Michael shrugged and handed his iPod to Gavin, headphones still on his head.

Gavin scrolled through a few albums until the title of one song in particular caught his eye.

“Thank You for the Venom?” he asked Michael.

Michael lifted one headphone. “Yeah, what about it?”

“Can I listen to it?”

“Sure, I guess so.”

Gavin’s eyes lit up. “Wait! I have earbuds so we can both listen to it.”

He leaned over to grab his bag and dug out the black earbuds. He offered one to Michael as he plugged the jack into the iPod.

It was rough getting into, with the distorted guitar riffs, but Gavin found himself almost humming along to the chorus as the song neared its end.

Michael grinned slightly. “You like it?”

“Yeah! I still think they sound kind of angry, but I like their sound overall.”

“Well, sounding angry is kind of the point, dipshit.”

Gavin smiled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“If you think that sounded angry, you should listen to their first album. It’s raw as fuck.”

Gavin spent the rest of the bus ride home listening to fragments of different songs as Michael explained various titles and lyrics. Gavin was surprised when they arrived at the bus stop. Had it really been half an hour already? He felt like he’d really gotten to hang out with Michael on a deeper level, just by asking questions about this thing he liked.

As they jumped off the bus and headed towards their parents’ cars, Michael gave Gavin one last recommendation.

“You should start with their most recent album and then work backwards, because once you get used to their edge, you’ll be better prepared for their first album, which is super dissonant.”

Gavin smiled. “Will do. See you tomorrow, Michael.”

Michael waved. “Later, Gavin.”

Gavin swung the passenger’s door open and happily sunk into the cushioned seat.

“Well well well, don’t you look happy today!”

Geoff playfully punched Gavin in the arm.

Oh bollocks, he thought, I need to tone it down.

“I guess I’m doing all right.”

Geoff smirked. “’All right’? You’re practically glowing.”

Gavin turned away, unable to prevent himself from turning red.

“Is it a giiirrrrl?” Geoff asked teasingly as he pulled out of the parking lot.

Gavin’s eyes widened in horror.

“N-no, Geoff…”

Geoff glanced at Gavin skeptically.

“What is it, then?”

Gavin started playing with his hoodie straps anxiously.

“Nothing, Michael just showed me this band he likes. They’re top.”

“Ah. What’s the band?”

“My Chemical Romance,” Gavin muttered.

“Oh, I’ve heard of them. Didn’t they play that one song…”

Gavin pulled out his DS as Geoff tried to remember the name of some song that probably wasn’t even by My Chemical Romance. He tended to flip flop bands fairly often. He was probably thinking of Fall Out Boy, not that they sounded similar at all.

Gavin went to sleep that night happier than he’d been in a while. Maybe it was because found something new to be passionate about, or maybe because he felt his friendship with Michael had been validated at last. His final fleeting image before falling asleep was the memory of sitting next to Michael on the bus, watching his mouth move faster than he could ever dream of keeping up with.

Still, dream he did.


End file.
